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Hope for Tomorrow

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

More Lives than One

A good friend of mine sent me this story that she was willing to share. It wasn't easy for her to share and has asked to remain anonymous. I pray that it touches your heart as you read.

This story happened many years ago. I was raised in a Christian home where we all heard "the talk" and knew exactly what was expected of us by our parents and what God desired for our lives in that area. My sister had a one night stand that was supposed to be a date my brother and his wife arranged for her and she got pregnant. She told no one except my brother and he paid for her abortion. My sister was so afraid of telling my mom and dad what had happened that she just assumed that was her only choice.

The really sad part of the story is what happened next. Not only did a baby die, but a promising life was ruined. My sister went to college and tried to have a "normal" life. She became an LPN and had a good job, but living with the memory of what she had done kept interfering. She started to drink to forget. Then she started using marijuana because alcohol wasn't enough. As a nurse, she had access to other drugs as well and she started pinching a little here and there from the "medications".

By the age of 21, my sister was an addict and an alcoholic. By 24 or so she had lost her nurse's license and been banned from the medical field.

It didn't stop there. She has lost every job she ever had, been married and divorced twice, has a daughter who is following in her footsteps, and been in prison twice. We had a family intervention and she actually went to rehab for quite awhile. During that time she came to realize that having the abortion was wrong and that she would never be okay until she found forgiveness. We were very hopeful that she was on the right track. However, her addiction is so strong that she cannot stay clean. She just crashed again after being clean for a year, during which she was actually sounding and acting sane.

My sister's abortion didn't just effect her. A baby(my niece) died, my sister lost herself, and our family lost relationships that are still not fixed to this day. My brother's marriage fell apart. And the grief my parents felt when they found out is indescribable. There is no such thing as keeping it a secret. Your heart knows and God knows, even if no one else does.

Abortion is not the answer. It just brings a new set of problems. I wish I had known about my sister in time to help her through the crisis.